Open World Games That Needed Fast Travel

Key Takeaways

Open-world games may lack fast travel, posing challenges for completion and exploration.
Games like Batman: Arkham Knight and Jak 3 would benefit from fast travel options for collecting hundreds of items.
No Man’s Sky and The Legend of Zelda also lack fast travel features, affecting players’ navigation across their expansive worlds.

As someone who’s spent countless hours exploring virtual worlds and embarking on epic quests, I can say with confidence that backtracking is the bane of every adventurer’s existence. It’s not just about reaching the next level or finding that elusive collectible, it’s the tedious trek from one point to another that can break even the most immersive experiences.

For more than two decades, games set in open worlds have been popular, and one of the most valuable skills to possess is fast-travel. Be it traversing a vast cityscape or an alien planet, being able to instantaneously return to a central hub world or operational base is convenient for those who prefer not to retrace their steps.

Sometimes, game creators design titles without the fast-travel feature. While this doesn’t necessarily spoil the overall gaming experience, players might have preferred having the choice available. At times, it can be quite frustrating when attempting to accomplish specific missions or searching for hidden items while navigating through the game world.

8 State Of Decay 2

Roaming A Zombie-Infested World Can Get Stressful

One captivating aspect of State Of Decay 2 lies in its lack of hand-holding approach for surviving in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. This means that players, whether they’re playing alone or with others, must improvise their survival methods and be prepared to face the unpredictable. Remarkably, this strategy is successful in making the undead seem like a real danger, which adds to the overall thrill of the game.

Players yearn for a swift method to return to their camp in State Of Decay 2, which isn’t available through unlocking. However, vehicles help shorten the distance, though they may still lead to challenging zombie encounters and fuel concerns while navigating the six expansive open-world maps.

7 No Man’s Sky

Galactic Explorers Should Remember To Keep Their Ships Close

In No Man’s Sky, players can utilize portals to instantly travel from a space station to their home base, but these are less useful when it comes to exploring the numerous colossal alien planets. If a player finds themselves on the far side of a planet with no means of reaching their ship (which is part of the game’s survival aspect), there’s no easy way to return to the base, making the journey back quite an adventure.

Still, a craftable gadget that allows someone to teleport to their base would be appreciated. Thankfully, starships are pretty fast in No Man’s Sky, but they are not always able to be called and sometimes the trek back to the ship can be just as dangerous as adventuring outward to whatever quest the player was up to.

6 Dying Light

Fighting A Zombie Apocalypse With Hardcore Parkour

In essence, Parkour plays a significant role in the “Dying Light” video game series, encouraging players to master movement skills. Given this, it’s logical that the creators aimed for players to become proficient in traversal. However, since the original “Dying Light” had an expansive map with limited means of travel other than running, jumping, and climbing, it was beneficial for “Dying Light 2” to incorporate a fast travel system. This addition would have been particularly useful in certain areas of the first game.

One side argues that in Dying Light, infected zombies become particularly terrifying to flee from due to their design. Conversely, traversing across different parts of the map for missions can be tiring for players as they wait for the sequel, which demonstrates that rapid travel doesn’t detract from the engaging parkour gameplay experience.

5 Batman: Arkham Knight

The Batwing Could Have Been A Fast Travel Vehicle Again

In one regard, the game “Batman: Arkham Knight” boasts the swiftest gliding capability among all “Batman: Arkham” series and includes the Batmobile. Consequently, navigating Gotham City remains the quickest mode of travel within the franchise. Nevertheless, this doesn’t deter players from occasionally yearning for the option to instantly transport via the Batwing, much like in “Batman: Arkham Origins”.

Traveling swiftly would have greatly facilitated the players’ efforts in the post-story segment, where they strive to complete all side quests in Batman: Arkham Knight. The task that demanded the utmost attention was undeniably the laborious process of gathering every Riddler trophy and addressing his numerous challenges. This is particularly true when navigating back to internal locations such as the Arkham Knight HQ and movie studios, which often required revisiting.

4 Jak 3

Getting All Precursor Orbs Is No Easy Feat Without Fast Travel

In Jak’s third escapade, set within an expansive open landscape, incorporating quick travel as a feature might appear sensible. Nevertheless, Jak 3 remained faithful to its original design, where the player must journey through every corner of the world in search of collectibles, either on foot or by vehicle. While this is still enjoyable, it can become repetitive, especially when hunting for just one Precursor Orb, similar to the tedium often found in many 3D platformers due to frequent backtracking.

In addition to the vast expanse of Wasteland to traverse from one end to another, Jak 3 also offers Spargus, Haven City, sewers, and additional areas to discover, with a potential total of 600 orbs up for grabs. Some of these orbs can only be obtained by visiting specific NPCs, which emphasizes the importance of making swift trips back to the cities, even if they are enjoyable to explore on their own.

3 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Backtracking Is The Worst Part Of Cal’s Journey

The Metroidvania-style structure adopted by Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order means that fast travel is not an option within the game, which can be a bit irritating for players to navigate through. Despite its numerous strengths, such as character customization and Soulslike lightsaber combat, the absence of fast travel was a point of contention among even the most ardent fans, leading to its inclusion in the sequel.

Some chests in Fallen Order can be opened only at the game’s end and are located across various maps on planets like Kashyyyk and Dathomir. To reach them, you’ll need to navigate extensively, as there’s no quick route. The journey involves overcoming platforming obstacles and solving puzzles, making it a challenging adventure. Similarly, returning to Cal’s ship, the Mantis, will also require traversal through these challenges.

2 Batman: Arkham City

Fighting Crime In Gotham City Can Feel Like A Chore

Regardless of having the Grapnel Boost upgrade in Batman: Arkham City, navigating through the map can still feel like a laborious task. The main story missions and urgent tasks like handling Zsasz limit players to gliding across Arkham City, yet having to traverse from one side to another just for a single collectible or Titan canister, then make the return trip, gets tiresome.

Instead of Arkham Knight, Batman: Arkham City doesn’t include any vehicles for Batman to operate, forcing players to traverse rooftops extensively throughout a significant part of Gotham City. In specific zones like the Steel Mill and Wonder Tower, they encounter the same predicament as Arkham Knight, with numerous side missions scattered both within and outside these areas.

1 Vampyr

London’s Districts Are A Maze Of Derelict Alleys And Streets

In a nutshell, the game Vampyr can significantly alter or conclude tales much like how Mass Effect does in its genre, boasting Jonathan Reid as an exceptional vampiric lead character. The enjoyment of exploring 1918’s London cityscape is undeniable, yet a notable downside to Vampyr lies in the frequent revisits to various districts due to their expansive size, filled with narrow alleys and numerous streets.

If Focus Entertainment and Dontnod were to create a sequel, it might include an option for players to teleport, akin to some vampire abilities. The game “Vampyr” requires the player to complete all tasks within one night before advancing, which some critics find challenging due to the lack of fast travel points like safehouses scattered across London.

2024-11-17 08:04